Music News

Matt Healy turned to "cigarettes, coffee, drugs and women" to get through a "tough time".
The 1975 frontman admitted he struggled with life on the road before returning to the recording studio to work on the group's latest offering 'I Like It When You Sleep For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It', so needed "constant" stimulation, though he insists that doesn't make him a bad person.
Defending his lifestyle, he said: "Any dilemma I have is always met with a very British sense of not wanting to feel sorry for myself.
"I am aware that if a young frontman of a pop band, loved by millions of girls, starts feeling down or emotional, people think, 'Ah, f*** off mate.
"But I really had a tough time before this album. I needed to be constantly stimulated.
Whether it's cigarettes, coffee, drugs or women, I am always there and wanting. And I don't mean I am a misogynist or a sh*g bag d***head.
"By the end of the first album, we were the hardest-working band in the world but we were also exhausted and tired. And when you've been away from home and reality that long, you start finding comfort in other things."
Meanwhile, the 26-year-old rocker - who is the son of actress Denise Welch and actor Tim Healy - said he was worried about sounding like a "w***r" by writing songs and singing about the same stuff they did on their first record on their sophomore album.
In an interview with The Sun newspaper, he said: "Bettering myself, growing up and having self-awareness is an integral part of my music but I feared trying to write about what I did on the first record and coming across as a "w***r."

Grimes has decided to dissociate herself from drugs for the sake of her fans.
The 27-year-old Canadian singer has seen many of her close friends die from narcotic use over the years and now she's decided to make a stand by not letting substances ruin her image as an artist because she's a role model for teenagers.
Speaking to ES magazine she said: "I've had a couple of very close friends die related to complications due to drug abuse. It can't be part of my life any more.
" And I don't want it to be part of Grimes either, because whether I like it or not, people do what I do -- or think what I do is cool. If you meet kids after a show and they're like, 'Yeah, Grimes, I want to do drugs with you.' It's f***ing scary when 13 year olds are like that. You're like: 'Oh my God, I'm like ruining the world' "'
Meanwhile, Grimes - whose real name is Claire Botcher - also admitted she is "allergic" to the idea of her music and work as a producer being judged on appearance because until now she thought she was "ugly".
She explained: "I was always a very ugly person until recently. I had terrible hair and bad skin. So the whole thing is pretty odd.
"My self-identity is so strongly based on my abilities as an artist and as a producer and an engineer, I'm allergic to the idea of ever being evaluated on my physical appearance.
"When people are like, 'Marry me, Grimes' -- I'm like, AGHHHGH. Like I can't... it's every day. Marry me, marry me. It's so weird."

Lorde has been praised for her "egoless" tribute to David Bowie.
The 19-year-old singer was joined by Bowie's former touring band for her rendition of his track 'Life On Mars' at the BRIT Awards at London's O2 on Wednesday (24.02.16) and the late musician's producer called it the perfect tribute to the star.
He wrote on Facebook: "A first class, respectful, sensitive, egoless tribute to dear David. Thank you Gail Ann Dorsey, Gerry Leonard, Mike Garson, Sterling Campell, Catherine Russel and Earl Slick. David loved you and I love you. Lorde, you rocked it! And thanks to The Brits. As the UK is my other 'home' I have to say you did the right thing."
He also praised Annie Lennox and Gary Oldman, who spoke movingly about the late musician, who died in January following a secret battle with cancer.
Visconti, who produced David's final album 'Blackstar', said: "Annie Lennox, love you. Gary Oldman, love you, and thank you for letting me play with your iPhone 6 when you came to listen to Blackstar in the making. You and David were cracking me up! What great friends you were."
David's son Duncan Jones was also touched, writing on Twitter: "Finally found the links to tonight's Brits. Just... beautiful. Thank you (sic)."
The praise comes after Duncan posted a cryptic tweet appearing to blast Lady Gaga following her tribute to his late father at the Grammy Awards.
He posted the Oxford English Dictionary's definition for the word "gaga" on Twitter the ceremony earlier this month, after the 29-year-old star performed nine of the late musician's hits in a stunning six-minute performance.
Bowie's son tweeted: "overexcited or irrational, typically as a result of infatuation or excessive enthusiasm; mentally confused." Damn it! What IS that word!? (sic)"

Nikki Sixx thinks in the end Motley Crue "ceased to run on creativity".
The former Motley Crue bassist admitted the 'Girls Girls Girls' rock band - also including Vince Neil, Tommy Lee and Mick Mars - called it quits because they lacked the enthusiasm and passion to make new music and were just running on "mechanical motions".
He told Classic Rock magazine: "We talk about each other in a way that's endearing - but not. We say where we're really at. We talk about the drama and the pain of being in a band that has ceased to run on creativity, just on pure, mechanical motions."
And now that the Crue are no more after their final tour, Nikki, 57, is focused on his own band Sixx:A.M., which frontman James Michael says is no longer a "side project".
He told BANG Showbiz: "For this past year we've finally been able to commit ourselves 100 per cent to being Sixx:A.M. It has been a long journey and it kind of felt like it had been a side project for quite a while and we weren't really sure what Sixx:A.M. was.
"Strangely enough we've had some great successes, but now for the first time we went into the studio knowing that we were a real band and that we had a future of touring ahead of us and it really changed how we approached the record-making process and the songwriting process. We are having a great time and we've got a lot of music on its way."

Coldplay dedicated their last song 'Til Kingdom Come' to David Bowie at their post BRIT Awards concert in aid of War Child on Wednesday night (24.02.16).
Frontman Chris Martin announced he was singing the emotional track - which begins "Steal my heart and hold my tongue, I feel my time, my time has come. Let me in, unlock the door, I've never felt this way before" - for the Ziggy Stardust legend, who passed away at the age of 69 in January from cancer.
The 38-year-old star first recalled that he had wrote the hit - which features on their 2005 album 'X&Y' - with the late country music legend Johnny Cash in mind and joked he offered it to One Direction, Adele and Justin Bieber before the late Cash, even though none of those trio of artists were releasing music at the time.
Speaking directly to the crowd, he began: "One Direction? They said no. Adele? She said no. We offered it to Justin Bieber and he said no, so we kept it for ourselves.
And added: "The truth is this, it was written for Johnny Cash, and this is dedicated to Johnny and David Bowie, and all those people that we really miss. This is about love lasting forever."
Coldplay opened the BRIT Awards earlier in the night with a colourful rendition of 'Hymn For The Weekend', but chose to begin the intimate show with 'A Head Full of Dreams'.
The crowd sang in unison with the band - which also includes Jonny Buckland on guitar, Guy Berryman on bass and Will Champion on drums - as they stormed through a string of familiar hits including their breakout track 'Yellow', 'Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall', 'Clocks', 'Charlie Brown', 'Hymn for the Weekend' - which features on their latest album 'A Head Full of Dreams' - and fan favourite 'Fix You'.
The night took an uplifting turn when Chris, 38, took to the piano and sang 'Viva La Vida', 'Adventure of a Lifetime' and 'A Sky Full of Stars'.
The group have had a busy few weeks after they performed at the prestigious Super Bowl half-time show in the US, so the star took the opportunity to thank the team around Coldplay - who picked up the Best British Group at the BRITs.
Chris said: "We're so proud to be here working with War Child so thank you to War Child. Thank you to all of our team who have been working so hard over the past few weeks with the Super Bowl and the BRITs.
"I don't know if you're having fun but it's so fun for us to just play a concert and we haven't done a concert for a while and it just feels wonderful, and we couldn't ask for a nicer occasion. So thank you very much."
Famous faces who joined War Child and O2 to watch the headliners perform included 'Britain's Got Talent' judge Alesha Dixon, 'Game of Thrones' star Maisie Williams, Welsh actor Luke Evans and singer Conor Maynard.
Revellers were delighted to be treated to a special menu of cocktails by Italian liqueur Disaronno, such as their 'Sky Full of Stars' tipple, created especially for the event.

Corey Taylor "might step away from Slipknot".
The 44-year-old frontman admitted he's starting to get tired of touring as he gets older and if it gets to the point where he feels like he's letting his bandmates down, he's vowed to "completely quit music".
Asked if he'll ever retire, he said: "I don't know if I would retire. I might step away from Slipknot at some point, just because the way the music is, and that sense of energy, I don't know if I could be able to do that into my 50s. And I would never want the band to feel like I was holding them back, because I just couldn't physically do it. So that means I wouldn't completely quit music; I would probably just step away from Slipknot."
The 'Psychosocial' hitmaker added that he might as well be "60 in Slipknot years" as the pressures of being in such an energetic and frantic posse makes him feel haggard.
On whether he'll give up performing live with the heavy metallers, he told BBC Radio 1 DJ Daniel P Carter for the 'Someone Who Isn't Me' podcast: "You know, honestly, if you'd asked me a year ago, I would have said no. But I'm just kind of starting to. I'm 44 [years old]; I'm not young any more. And as willing as my will is, I'm just beat up, man. I mean, I might as well be 60 in Slipknot years, for Christ's sake."

Foals' Yannis Philippakis has praised Kanye West for "taking risks" in the "stale and boring" music industry.
The 'My Number' vocalist thinks the world needs more artists like Kanye because musicians today are too focused on being "careerists" to make "bold" art.
He told NME magazine: "I like Kanye. From what I've heard of [his new album 'The Life Of Pablo'], I really like it. I like Kanye's presence in the world as much as any of the music. I think things have got so stale, so boring and polished, so careerist and pastiche that he's one of the few people out there actually taking risks and making big, bold decisions. "Stuff has just gotten boring in music and I think that anyone who is the antithesis of that should be applauded. Whether he is a provocateur or not, I think there should be more of that. Stuff just needs to get heated up a bit."
The 29-year-old rocker's comments come after the 'All Day' rapper's recent controversial Twitter rants which have seen him diss Taylor Swift and most recently music producer Bob Ezrin.
Meanwhile, Foals - who were nominated for Best British Group the BRIT Awards - have called for a "resurgence of progressive guitar music" because there's not enough "wild and unpredictable" bands out there.
Speaking at the BRITs, Yannis told DIY magazine: "It definitely feels like there's been a bit of a brain drain ... I think it's time for a resurgence of progressive guitar music, because it doesn't feel like it's fresh. I feel like there's a lot of dressing up in parents' clothes and acting out relatively pastiche tropes that have happened before. I'd like to see a return of edgy, unpredictable, wild, passionate guitar music."

James Bay says it was "surreal" winning the BRIT Award for British Male Solo Artist.
The 'Hold Back The River' hitmaker took home the prize from the ceremony - presented in association with MasterCard - held at The O2 in London on Wednesday night (24.02.16) beating Calvin Harris, Aphex Twin, Mark Ronson and Jamie xx to the accolade.
Bay can't believe he won considering his debut LP 'Chaos and the Calm' came out less than a year ago.
He told BANG Showbiz: "It's fantastic. My debut album hasn't been out for a year, it's surreal and the most wonderful kind of surreal.
"I'm endlessly thankful for the people that have got on board with my music, for the people discovering it now and those listening for a second time. Those are the really important moments."
But it was the 25-year-old singer/songwriter's surprise appearance playing guitar alongside Justin Bieber during his performance of 'Love Yourself!' that was the talk of the night.
Bay revealed the pairing came about when her met Bieber at an MTV Europe Music Awards after-party and the pop superstar simply said he needed a guitarist for his BRITs performance and Bay was more than happy to lend him his strumming skills.
The rocker said: "I met Mr. Bieber at four in the morning after an Italian MTV EMA party. He was very good at the pool table - that's the first thing I noticed. I know he looks great and he's very handsome ... he's a good singer as well.
"I met him and he was a lovely guy. I've seen him and his manager at different points along the way. To be honest, they just needed a guitarist. He was like, 'Hey do you fancy doing it?' And I was like, 'Yeah man I'll do it.' "

Tame Impala joked Rihanna was "rude" for not speaking to them at the BRIT Awards on Wednesday night (24.02.16).
The 'Work' hitmaker - who performed with Drake at the ceremony at The O2 in London - covered the group's song 'New Person, Same Old Mistakes' on her latest LP 'Anti', but according to the Australian group she didn't come over to chat with them backstage. Speaking after collecting the award for International Group, frontman Kevin Parker told BANG Showbiz: "She hasn't said hello - she was quite rude in that regard. Obviously I'm joking!"
The 'Let It Happen' hitmakers were overwhelmed with their prize and admitting the BRITs were the "most extravagant" awards bash they've ever been to.
Discussing their first BRIT win, Kevin said: "I was just happy for all the people at our table - the record label and stuff, they're the ones who put all the effort into up getting to the next level. These kind of things [the award] are a physical symbol of that kind of stuff. The UK was the first place we came overseas. It's always been pretty special. It's been pretty intense - definitely the most extravagant awards show we've ever been to."
The rock group - which also features Dominic Simper, Jay Watson, Cam Avery and Julien Barbagallo - previously insisted they loved Rihanna's interpretation of their song, titled 'Same Ol' Mistakes' on her album.
Speaking on the group's behalf, a representative said: "Kevin was more than happy to send it her way. We're all really happy with how the song turned out, love it!"